


Moving Upstate

by hobbit_hedgehog



Series: Small Towns and Dark Roasts [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 13:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbit_hedgehog/pseuds/hobbit_hedgehog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes has transferred to a new school and it's time to find somewhere to live.  A prequel fic to College Town Coffee</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving Upstate

**Author's Note:**

> So, guess what. College Town Coffee is a series now! I love writing for this universe and have several spinoffs planned, but for now, here's a prequel fic! I'm quickly approaching the end of my senior year of college, so I probably won't update College Town Coffee in the next few weeks, but I promise there is more coming soon. Thank you so much for reading, as always comments and Kudos are appreciated. Enjoy the fic!

Bucky wasn't sure that he had the right address, but then again, he knew absolutely nothing about this town. Well, not nothing. This place would be his home for the next two years. Bucky had decided to transfer to a smaller school in Upstate New York rather than stay in the city. It wasn't that Bucky hated going to school in New York City, he just thought a small college town would be more his speed. As a result, he was standing outside a small coffee shop called "Odinson's Coffee". Bucky was early for an appointment with someone named Jessica Jones about an apartment lease. Bucky knew that it probably would have been easier to try his luck with the on campus housing, but the idea of apartment living was more appealing than a dorm room. That, and on campus housing was more expensive.

Taking a deep breath, Bucky pushed the door to the shop open and walked inside. The shop was relatively empty save some teenagers crowded together in the corner and a muscular blond behind the counter who straightened and grinned once the door shut behind Bucky. "Welcome to Odinson's, friend," the man called, his booming voice catching Bucky a bit off guard.

"Um, hi," Bucky replied, keenly aware that the teens had turned to look at Bucky. Bucky made his way to the counter, trying his best to not feel too self conscious. He reminded himself that moving to a new town came with the price of people being curious about his arm and that he would need to get used to their stares again.

"What can I get for you?" the man behind the counter asked.

"An iced coffee?" Bucky replied, his tone sounding more like a question than anything else. "A medium?"

"Of course," the man said as he grabbed a cup and moved to get Bucky's coffee. "I have never seen you in here before. Have you recently moved to town?"

Bucky was a little thrown by the question. Bucky was used to living in bigger places where you may never run into the same person twice in a lifetime; it made sense that small town living would be different than that.

"Not yet," Bucky admitted. "I'm meeting with someone today about an apartment. I'm starting school here next month."

"Ah, so you are a student as well," the man said, placing Bucky's coffee on the counter and punching numbers into the cash register. "My brother and I attend school here as well. My name is Thor."

"Nice to meet you Thor," Bucky replied as he passed his money to Thor. "My name is James."

"It is nice to meet you as well, James," Thor said with a smile, returning Bucky's change. "If you are ever looking for work, feel free to drop by. Odinson's is always looking for help."

That also took Bucky by surprise; he had just met the man. Bucky opened his mouth to reply when a sharp voice cut in, "Brother, stop promising work to everyone that walks in. We don't need any more help around here."

Bucky turned to look at the source of the voice, only to see a flash of black and green disappear into what Bucky assumed was the employee break room.

"That would be my brother Loki," Thor told Bucky with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He is usually like that, ignore him. And besides, I can offer jobs to whoever I want. I'm the manager, he is not. "

Bucky felt the corner of his lips tug up into a smirk at that; he liked Thor. "I'll let you know," Bucky replied. "I need to make sure that I have a place to live before I can take up any job offers."

"Well, if you work at Odinson's you are more than welcome to live on the floor of the break room," Thor said, his nonchalant tone betrayed by the widening smile on his face and the jovial look in his eye, "but I cannot guarantee that it would be the most comfortable of living situations."

Bucky snorted, not noticing the dark haired woman stepping up to the counter until she said, "Stop trying to steal my potential tenants, Blondie."

Bucky turned to look at the woman at his side. She was a little shorter than Bucky, a leather jacket slung over one arm and her black hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was looking Bucky over with a critical eye and Bucky did his best not to shrink back under her gaze. He made a mental note to always pay his rent on time if he ended up with her as a landlord.

"I would never dream of it Jessica," Thor replied with a grin. "Just making sure that our new friend James feels welcome in his new town."

"Whatever Blondie," Jessica muttered before turning to Bucky, "Go grab us a table, I'll be over in a minute. Gotta rough up my competition a bit."

Bucky merely nodded, thanking Thor one last time before moving to grab a table. He sat down so that he was facing the counter, watching Thor and Jessica interact while he drank his coffee. Nothing bad seemed to happen. Jessica said something to Thor and he laughed, a loud, booming sound that filled the shop before he passed a coffee cup to Jessica. She paid and made her way over to the table, dropping her bag next to the table before draping her coat on the back of her chair and sitting down.

"Alright, so you're James Barnes," Jessica stated.

"Yeah, that's me," James murmured.

After a moment of brief scrutiny, Jessica reached for her bag and pulled it onto her lap. She opened it up and rummaged around inside before pulling out a folder and dropping it on the table. She pushed it towards Bucky and looked expectantly between him and the folder. Bucky, ignoring the feeling that she was an agent from some shadowy government surveillance agency, opened the folder and looked at its contents. There was a copy of a lease and a fire alarm agreement inside. Bucky picked up the lease and began to read it.

"Those are all of the papers," Jessica said, leaning back in her seat. "Unfortunately, all of our apartments have already been leased out for the year, but we have one more room in our apartment. If you're interested, you'd be living with myself, my fiancé Luke, and two other students your own age. You'd have a room all to yourself, there are two bathrooms, one of which you'd share with the other two college students and a kitchen. Laundry's included, it's free."

"But I would be living in an apartment with you and your fiancé?" Bucky asked, looking up from the lease.

"Yeah, it's not a great situation," Jessica commented. "But that's what happens when you come in this late in the game. Not that it's really your fault, the school did get back to you a bit late as I understand it."

"That they did," Bucky muttered under his breath.

"I know, if I were you I wouldn't want to do this," Jessica shrugged. "But you're not gonna find rent rates that low anywhere else in this town. Just make sure you pay your rent and utilities on time, do your own damn dishes and clean up after yourself and we won't have any issues."

"Well, the dishes won't be an issue and neither will the mess," Bucky assured Jessica. "I mostly stick to myself when I'm home and I'm prompt with cleaning."

"Good, because one of the boys is blind. He's fairly independent, and the other boy is a good friend who's been with him for a few years, but my fiancé and I want him to feel as comfortable living with us as possible."

"I read you loud and clear ma'am," Bucky said, picking up the lease again.

"Don't call me ma'am," Jessica snapped. "Makes me feel old."

"Fair enough," Bucky said, closing the folder. "Is it possible to see the apartment before I sign the lease?"

Jessica knocked back the last of her coffee and stood up, slipping her jacket on, "Sure, but I biked here. You comfortable with motorcycles?"

"Never ridden one before," Bucky admitted, rising to his feet as well with the folder in hand.

"Then this will be an excellent tenant-landlord trust exercise," Jessica muttered in a tone that Bucky couldn't tell was sarcastic or not. 

Jessica gave Thor a nod and walked out the door. Bucky waved and followed Jessica out into the July heat. Jessica was standing next to a motorcycle, helmet already on. She passed another one to Bucky, taking the folder and slipping it back into her bag. She climbed onto the motorcycle and patted the back of it. "Hop on and hold on," she said.

Bucky climbed on and wrapped his arms around Jessica's waist. The bike's engines roared to life and she pulled out of the parking lot. Bucky's grip tightened a bit and the two were off. 

Five minutes later, they reached the apartment in one piece. Bucky got off of the bike with shaking legs and handed the helmet back to Jessica. Jessica took the helmet wordlessly and gestured for Bucky to follow her. The two walked up two flights of stairs and down an open walkway until they reached an unmarked door. Jessica pulled a key out of her pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed her way inside shouting, "Luke, brought the tenant."

Bucky followed Jessica inside, his eyes adjusting to the dimness of the room. The living room was surprisingly sparse, making the room seem bigger. There was a couch and an armchair in front of a coffee table and a kitchen table pushed off to one side. There was a kitchenette off of the hallway that Bucky assumed led to bedrooms and the bathrooms. Bucky loitered near the door, unsure of what to do.

"Are you Barnes?" a rich, deep voice floated from the hallway.

Bucky looked up to see a tall, bald, strong-looking man standing in the hallway. He was wearing sweatpants and a yellow shirt and rubbing sleep from his eyes. Bucky realized that he must be his other landlord.

"Yeah, call me James," Bucky responded. "And you're Luke?"

"That's right," Luke said, stretching as he replied. "Come to see the place?"

Bucky nodded, "Yes sir."

Luke chuckled, mumbling "Yes sir" under his breath as he moved towards the kitchenette. "Well, take a look around, see what you think."

Bucky nodded as Jessica came out of one of the bedrooms. "This will be your room," Jessica called from down the hallway. "Come take a look."

Bucky walked down the hall and Jessica stood aside to let him in. Bucky walked inside and looked around, taking in the space. The room was decent sized. He would need to get his own furniture, but once he moved in the room itself would be pretty comfortable. Bucky nodded to himself and turned back to Jessica.

"Got a pen?" Bucky asked.

***

"And that's the last of it," Bucky's father George said, dropping a box in the corner of Bucky's room. It was a week before classes started and Bucky was now officially moved in. The previous day Bucky had met his other two roommates and had gone to talk to Thor about working at Odinson's. Thor had been ecstatic about Bucky working for the family company and had hired Bucky on the spot, much to Loki's chagrin. In another couple of hours, Bucky would be moved in and ready to start the new school year. Bucky couldn't wait to begin his new life upstate. It was going to be great.


End file.
